Sustainable Farming

Way found to relieve guilt about global
warming

I didn't believe it when I read that burning one gallon of
gasoline produces 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (C02).
At first I shook it off as just one of the many incredible
statistics of modem life.

I took the problem to a science teacher I know. He dazzled me
with chemical equations. Somehow he changed gallons into moles
and ended up with pounds. The numbers were flying; but in the end
he came up with the dreaded finding that burning one gallon of
gasoline produces 20 pounds of C02.

The scientific community is still squabbling over whether C02
from burning fossil fuels can be blamed for accelerating global
warming. We know that heavier C02 molecules trap heat.
We also know that in the last century the Earth has warmed and
that sea levels have risen a foot. Even so, scientists need at
least another 10 years to know for sure what is happening and how
fast.

But H the atmosphere continues to heat up at an accelerating
rate, we are in for big trouble. By the time we have doubled the
amount of C02 in 2050, global temperatures may rise 6
to 12 degrees F. with the largest increase at the poles. Sea
level will rise, flooding wetlands and coastal areas, and much of
Earth's arable land will be desert.

Scientists may be skeptical, but I don't mind saying I am
scared. I have been driving my junker about 10,000 miles a year
for the past 20 years. I have burned more than 13,000 gallons of
gasoline, adding over 260,000 pounds of C02 to the
atmosphere.

For years I have felt that I have been a responsible consumer.
l was among the first to recycle. I never litter. l donate to
conservation societies. But now I am faced with evidence that I
am part of the problem.

This new awareness has led me to do some soul searching. I've
come up with a long list of grim details and, at long last, a
plan to undo the damage I've done. All l have to do is remove
260,000 pounds of C02 from the atmosphere.

This may sound impossible, but actually it will be easy with
the help of a few trees. According to the American Forestry
Association, trees can absorb C02 at a rate of 26
pounds a year. A mere 200 trees can do the job in about 50 years.
My plan makes me feel a little better, but the situation is far
more complex than I imagined. Americans are by far the worlds
largest energy users, and I am no exception. Every time I dry a
load of laundry I send 10 pounds of C02 into the
atmosphere. Every time I fly, heat my house, or buy a
manufactured article I am contributing to the problem. To be on
the safe side, I'd better plant about 300 more trees.

All this penance is for past sins. l had better double my
figures to atone for the second half of my life. A crude estimate
puts my personal tree debt at about 1000.

It may seem that this plan is a pathetic symbolic gesture.
Even if I succeed, my efforts are negligible, especially
considering that there are 247 million other Americans burning
over 130 billion gallons of gasoline each year. We need a tree
farm the size of Australia.

But what choice do I have? By the time the government studies
the problem for 10 years and swings into motion, it will be too
late. There are some precedents for acting without the prodding
of government. A utility in Connecticut has begun to plant 52
million trees in Guatemala to offset its C02
production. Still, we have been burning fossil fuels at a
profligate rate for 100 years, and we have laid waste to the
forests of the northern hemisphere.

It is my hope that the formation of a national, and
ultimately, a global strategy, will stop the impending
catastrophe. Meantime, I'll begin to clean up my own act by
planting a few trees, and hope the idea catches on.

Editors note: You might want to plant a few more trees than
our American neighbour as a Canadian gallon of gasoline will
produce 25 pounds of C02 and tree growth is slower up
here.